Alejandro Del Dey shot a record-setting 14-under 58 in the second round of the European Challenge Tour's Swiss Challenge in France, setting a new standard for sub-60 rounds on major tours.
Del Rey set the mark for the lowest round against par in major tour history with his 14-under round, which was 16 shots better than his tournament-opening 2-over 74. The Spaniard is two shots behind 36-hole leader Marcel Schneider at Golf Saint Apollinaire, which Del Rey said clearly suits his game.
“I really enjoyed it, it suits my game pretty well,” he said. “I think the key for me is trying to stay patient out there, I am going to have a lot of putts for birdie, I let myself go a little bit yesterday and missed a lot of them. I just did pretty well today when I dropped the first couple ones and I stayed pretty patient when I missed a couple again and then I just went back at it.
“It was just great golf all round and for a round like that you need a couple of good bounces which I got today. I definitely managed to drop some putts out there but I think the key was that my driving was just great today. I hit every fairway super deep and every hole I managed to hit wedges in and managed to hit some chips, it was just a great all round golf performance."
Del Rey joins a small group of players who have shot rounds of 58 on major tours, including Ryo Ishikawa on the Japan Golf Tour in 2010, Jim Furyk at the 2016 Travelers Championship, Stephan Jaeger just weeks later on the Korn Ferry Tour in 2016 and Kim Seong-hyeon this year on the Japan Golf Tour. However, all of those other rounds were 12-under-par 58 on a par-70 course.
This is also the lowest round in the European Challenge Tour’s 32-year history. Previously, there had been two rounds of 59, with Adrien Mörk at the 2006 Tikida Hotels Agadir Moroccan Classic and Nicolò Ravano at the 2016 Fred Olsen Challenge de Espana.
Del Rey said he'll have a hard time sleeping but will have to find a way to keep it together as he seeks out the win.
“I should take a nap because I need it, but I don’t know if I am going to be able to take a nap right now because I’m pretty pumped," he said.
“Tomorrow is a whole new day, and that’s golf, I shot a 74 yesterday which is kind of crazy, so it’s just another round. I’m just going to go out there and shoot as low as possible.”
